CPJ Census: Iran among Top Jailers of Journalists

January 18, 2024

1 min read

As of December 1, 2023, eight of the 17 journalists imprisoned in Iran were women, according to CPJ. They include Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison on anti-state charges linked to their reporting

With at least 17 journalists incarcerated for their work in Iran at the end of last year, the country ranked the world's sixth worst jailers of journalists – tied with Israel – in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2023 prison census.

Iran and Israel are placed behind China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia and Vietnam.

CPJ said that Iran’s numbers saw a sharp decline from its 2022 designation as “the worst jailer of journalists” following its clampdown on coverage of nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022.

The New-York-based media freedom watchdog says that many of the 62 journalists listed on the 2022 census “have since been released on bail to await charges or sentencing, meaning that the lower number incarcerated in 2023 in no way signals any letting up in Iran’s repression of the media.”

“Instead, authorities have responded to the uptick in reporting on women’s rights by singling out prominent female journalists to make an example of them,” it adds.

As of December 1, 2023, eight of the 17 journalists imprisoned in Iran were women, according to CPJ.

They include Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who were sentenced to 13 and 12 years in prison on anti-state charges linked to their reporting. After 16 months behind bars, the two women were released from prison on bail on January 14 of this year, while the Supreme Court considers their appeal.

CPJ also cited the case of Vida Rabbani, a freelance journalist who is serving the first of two sentences totaling 17 years for her protest coverage.

🔴 CPJ’s 2023 prison census shows that Israel is among top jailers of journalists worldwide, as imprisonments globally continue unabated.

Read the report: https://t.co/GTeGIRhA6K #FreeThePress #JournalismIsNotACrime #PressFreedom pic.twitter.com/Nje3ABoLb6
— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) January 18, 2024

Overall, the group documented 320 journalists behind bars for their work on December 1, 2023, down from 363 the previous year.

More than 65 percent of the journalists listed in the census face anti-state charges such as false news and terrorism in retaliation for their critical coverage, it said.